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Police Issues

May 02, 2013

New York state is rolling out first-of-its-kind sensitivity training
statewide to help some police officers better identify and interact with
people with developmental disabilities.

The First Responders Disability Awareness Training,
offered this week in Dutchess County, provides training exercises and
protocols on how to assist individuals across the disability spectrum.
The Train the Trainer session is open to all in law enforcement, with
one stipulation: They must share the course with their police agency.

The training, through Niagara University, is not
mandated by the state. However, a council under Gov. Andrew Cuomo's
office made the course a funding priority and stressed its importance.

"The time has come" for this type of training, said
Sheila Carey, executive director of the state Developmental Disabilities
Planning Council, which funded the program and extended the initial
$650,000 three-year grant through 2015.

New York state has no overarching protocols for
arresting and criminally charging suspects with developmental
disabilities, said state Division of Criminal Justice Services
spokeswoman Janine Kava, adding "agencies have their own guidelines."
And state police training on mental illness and developmental
disabilities —a physical or mental impairment —is one and the same,
state police said.

February 25, 2013

There are more questions than answers following the death of a
26-year-old with Down syndrome at the hands of law enforcement who were
called in when the man refused to leave a movie theater.

Authorities say that Robert Ethan Saylor went to see “Zero Dark
Thirty” at a Frederick, Md. movie theater last month, but when the film
ended he wanted to see it again and refused to leave. At that point,
three off-duty sheriff’s deputies, who were providing security at the
venue, were called in.

It’s unclear exactly what happened next, but ultimately Saylor was
restrained by the deputies and began showing signs of a medical problem.
He was pronounced dead not long after.

Now a medical examiner has ruled the death a homicide and his family
is looking for answers. They say that Saylor idolized law enforcement
and the family indicated that an aide was with the young man at the
movies, saying that they could have been called to assist.

Governor Rick Snyder has called for a review of how Michigan provides mental health services.

The
governor has signed two executive orders to come up with
recommendations.The executive orders create two separate commissions.

Both of them will be led by Lieutenant Governor Brian Calley.

One
major goal is to identify gaps that send people to jails and prisons
instead of to programs that could treat their illnesses.

The
plans also include teaching police, teachers, and clergy to spot signs
of mental illness, earlier intervention for children with mental health
issues, and helping more people get into treatment instead of being sent
to jail or prison.

The case of a young man with Down syndrome who was asphyxiated while in police custody last week has spiraled into a shocking national news story--yet
another police scandal coming just on the heels of suspicions that LAPD
plotted to burn Dorner alive. The tragedy began when 26-year-old
Minnesota resident Robert Saylor was reluctant to leave a movie theater,
prompting employees to call the police. Without stopping to learn from
Saylor’s aide that he had Down syndrome, the police handcuffed him and
restrained him on the ground until he died of asphyxiation .

The case, which has been ruled a
homicide, has sparked outrage and fear among parents and allies of those
with developmental disabilities, as well as those with mental illness.
Yet, this is far from the first time that the police of state officials
have mishandled interactions with those with disabilities, with tragic
results. As the Center for Public Representation writes, there are “significant patterns in police killings of people with psychiatric disabilities.”

January 29, 2013

Being arrested or detained by the police is a frightening experience. Here are a few things you should know.

An arrest occurs when a law enforcement officer takes you into
custody and you are not free to go. If you are suspected of being
involved in a crime, you can also be legally detained for a short period
of time for questioning without being arrested.

To arrest you, the officer needs probable cause and an arrest
warrant. The most notable exception to this rule is when the officer
sees you commit a crime.

January 15, 2013

“I think the process was followed where the individual was arrested
for failing to identify himself, or obstruction. Certainly on the
surface, our officers aren’t in a position to make an assessment whether
they are dealing with someone with a mental illness in the first
instance. Then through that process, as a result of coming before the
courts, it then became clear as to what may be impacting his behaviour,
thus the next steps were taken for an assessment to be done, which is
the way the process should work.”

Immediate help can be offered to
people when they are arrested by police under the Mental Health Act,
“but that wasn’t the case here,” Thiessen said.

“If we had initiated an arrest under the Mental Health Act, then different mechanisms would come into play,” he added.